After a 27:25 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL playoffs, the Buffalo Bills are back in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 2020 and, as before, will meet the Kansas City Chiefs. The decisive factor this time were two defenders who were back compared to the last duel with Baltimore.
Ravens @ Bills: At a glance
- The Buffalo Bills had to tremble until the end and then benefited from too many mistakes by the Ravens.
- The Ravens committed three turnovers in the game and dug themselves into a hole early on, which they temporarily got out of. Ultimately, they failed with two unsuccessful two-point conversions.
- Two players missing from the Bills’ 35-10 loss to the Ravens in Week 4 made important plays for Buffalo this time around.
Ravens @ Bills: The Analysis
The Ravens started off with a confident eight-play drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Rashod Bateman. However, the home team struck back immediately, exploiting a 4th & 1 with a run by Josh Allen and ultimately Ray Davis ran for a 1-yard touchdown to tie the score at the end of the first quarter.
Then the problems began for Baltimore. Jackson attempted a deep shot to Bateman, but he apparently ran the wrong route, giving safety Taylor Rapp an easy time making an interception in his own half. The Bills didn’t do anything about it and punted, but a little later they got the ball back again because Jackson fumbled the ball twice in one play and lost it the second time to Von Miller, who took it all the way to the 24-yard line Ravens ran. A little later, Allen found the end zone with a sneak.
The Ravens scored another field goal from Justin Tucker, while the Bills added another Allen touchdown run after they took advantage of the referees seeing pass interference from Tre’Davious White against Keon Coleman in the red zone. but it wasn’t. Halftime score: 21:10 Buffalo.
After the break, the guests gradually began to wake up. While the Bills came out of the locker room conservatively, focused on short passes and the run game and thus punted quickly twice, the Ravens turned up the heat. They now relied more on their run game, gave Derrick Henry the ball more often and quickly got another field goal. The second drive ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Henry, but it wasn’t enough to equalize because the following two-point conversion failed due to a deflection by Matt Milano.
Andrews’ mistakes are serious
Nevertheless, they were back in the game after three quarters. And a 51-yard field goal from Tyler Bass at the start of the fourth quarter didn’t change that. Things changed a little later, because shortly after tight end Mark Andrews kept the following drive alive at 4th&1 with a tush push, he lost a fumble after linebacker Terrel Bernard punched out. There were just under nine minutes left to play.
As a result, the Bills marched towards the red zone, but were stopped at the 2. Bass then increased the lead to 27:19 with a short field goal with 3:29 minutes left to play. The Ravens increased the pace and Jackson finally found Isaiah Likely for a 24-yard touchdown, but then Andrews dropped the pass for a two-point conversion and the game was over as the following onside kick also landed on the opponent.
The Bills are in the AFC Championship Game and travel to the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday.
Baltimore Ravens (12-5) @ Buffalo Bills (13-4)
Result: 25:27 (7:7, 3:14, 9:0, 6:6) BOXSCORE
Ravens @ Bills: Key stats
- This was Jackson’s first game with multiple turnovers since last year’s AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs. In addition, the Ravens last had a turnover ratio of -3 in the game in question, as they do now.
- The Ravens are now 0-10 when entering halftime trailing by more than 10 points since 2018. Only the Raiders have an even worse record in such cases (0-26).
- After his two rushing touchdowns in that game, Allen now has 7 total in the playoffs. He tied Tom Brady for the second-most by a quarterback in the playoffs. Only Steve Young (8) has more.
- The Ravens allowed three rushing touchdowns in the first half of a game for the first time since 2006 against the Titans.
- Andrews’ fumble was his first NFL turnover since the 2019 season.
The star of the game: Matt Milano (linebacker, Bills)
In contrast to the clear loss against the Ravens in Week 4 of the regular season, Milano was part of the game this time and played a key role. He was often involved in blitzes and led his team with 6 pressures. He also decisively deflected Jackson’s pass on the Ravens’ first two-point conversion. Terrel Bernard was also strong – and unlike back then – thanks to his forced fumble.
The flop of the game: Lamar Jackson (quarterback, Ravens)
Yes, he brought his team back, but ultimately he committed two of the three turnovers in the game, which ultimately made the difference in this game. Once again Jackson, who will probably be the league’s MVP for the third time, disappointed in the most important game of the season.
Analysis: Ravens @ Bills – that stood out tactically
- Contrary to usual tendencies, Bills head coach Sean McDermott was extremely aggressive defensively and had flashes on almost half of the opponent’s dropbacks, which left an impression on Jackson. He repeatedly didn’t have enough time to throw the ball accurately, which often caused the Ravens offense to stall.
- The Bills also relied on their base defense far more often than usual in order to be better prepared for the guests’ run game. They played disciplined pass rush and mostly kept Jackson in the pocket, and they also usually effectively closed the gaps for Henry.
- Another way to limit Jackson’s circles was to use linebacker Milano as a spy on him early on.
- When it comes to the Ravens’ offensive plan, there was no clear direction. Although they relied on the run game from time to time, they didn’t follow through consistently. There were also significantly fewer read options than in the previous week. It was also noticeable that the passing game did not have a clear line. Too often, risky downfield passes were attempted instead of trying shorter, safer passes to simply move the sticks.